Five key takeaways from the 2025 January transfer window

Paul Macdonald

• Updated: 4 Feb 2025 19:00 GMT
• 4 min read

The 2025 January transfer window is officially over and Premier League clubs will now be forced to wait until the summer before adding yet more reinforcements to their squads.

English top flight clubs spent a combined €500 million on new signings in January, with Manchester City responsible for nearly half of that figure thanks to the arrivals of Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through five key takeaways from the January window.

READ MORE: Premier League January transfers 2025 - All the Done Deals

1. The signings are younger than ever

The average age of Premier League signings in the 2025 January window was 20.5. In the same window two years ago, that figure was 23.5. The sample size is small but the trend is undeniable; teams are scouting younger than ever before.

This is for two reasons; the first is tactical. High pressing styles and counterattack football is the way the most progressive teams play. Slow, methodical, possession-style play has been sacrificed. Teams need fast, fit, talent who can get into attacking positions quickly, can press relentlessly when asked, and can get back into position to defend.

It’s a game for the fittest players now, only.

READ MORE: The 10 most expensive transfers of the January window

2. Teams need sell-on value

The second reason is teams need to know that there will be sell-on potential for their signing at the end of their deal.

It’s far easier for Manchester United to sign Leny Yoro or Patrick Dorgu at their age range knowing that even if the deal doesn’t quite go to plan, there’s still a pathway to sell that player to another team and recoup losses. Or from a positive standpoint - they become a superstar and can attract nine-figure bids in future.

Buying talent even in their late 20s is basically accepting that that player is unlikely to have sufficient sell-on value in the future, and that deal becomes a sunk cost.

3. Middle Eastern states controlled the market - again

It would seem as if the spending was spread pretty evenly but it usually takes a trigger to get things going and this was provided from the Middle East.

Manchester City’s £180m spend put money in other team’s pockets, Saudi grabbing Jhon Duran for a huge fee gave Aston Villa PSR space, and Qatar spent £60m on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The biggest deals were powered by them, and most other things in the ecosystem revolved around those deals.

In terms of fresh capital, it’s pretty clear. Teams are being more conscious of transfer spending than ever before.

4. PL teams don’t need to sell to one another

In years gone by the likes of Matheus Cunha and Alexander Isak may have moved had the price been right. But each individual team in the Premier League is very clear in their own objectives now, whether it be staying in the league, or qualifying for the Champions League.

The incentive to sell a key asset to another is effectively gone. The league is too close this season, and there’s too much up for grabs. We probably haven’t seen the last huge EPL-to-EPL transfer, but the number of them taking place permanently is definitely lower - just one in this window in England.

5. Loans are the only risk teams will take

The increase of loan deals comes simply down to risk for the buying team. Aston Villa can’t be sure what Marcus Rashford they are getting - they know it’s one that hasn’t played in two months for a start.

Clubs have been burned too many times on blockbuster deals that they struggle to get out of, Chelsea and Manchester United perhaps the two most prominent examples at the moment.

Joao Felix’s entire life is now spent on loan - he may as well not unpack his suitcase - while Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee might also have been loan candidates if they had anyone to replace them.

It’s where the market is now - at a certain point you either become a risk, or you’re too old. Or sometimes you are both. The loan market may continue to grow as the transfer market evolves over time - watch this space.